Outboard motor



Jan. 10, 1950 H. P.. BELOW OUTBOARD MOTOR Filed July 12, 1946 INVENTOR.

HERMAN F? .BELOW Patented Jan. 10, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OUTBOARD MOTOR Hermann P. Below,New Braunfels, Tex.

Application July 12, 1946, Serial No. 683,091

3 Claims. (Cl. 115--18) My invention relates to improvements in compressed air driven outboard motors for boats, and the primary object of my invention is to provide a portable device of this character which can be readily installed as a unit in a boat, and which produces its own compressed air for its operation as needed without recourse to an external source thereof, and in which the propelling component is provided'with a water screw and a rudder which are together swingable by the operator of the boat to direct the boat in a straight ahead course or in a turn to either side.

Other important objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein merely for illustrative purposes, a preferred embodiment of my invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a'fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken through a boat and showing in side elevation a device according to my invention installed-thereon.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section taken through the air control valve, taken on the line 33 of Figure 1. Y

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section on an enlarged scale, taken through Figure 1 on the line Al-4, and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary transverse section on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig ure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 8 generally designates a boat, of which the bottom 1, sides 8, and stem 9 are shown. In accordance with my invention I locate on the bottom l or at some other suitable place a compressor component comprising a suitable motor Ii! driving an air compressor H, with a suitable flexible airhose [2 leading along the boat bottom 1 toward the stem 9, where said hose is connected in input relation to one end of a compressed air storage tank l2.

The tank l2 may conveniently be cylindrical in form and be arranged crosswise and on brackets it, on the bottom 1 immediately in front of the stern 9. A pressure gauge l4 may be provided on the same end of the tank [2' as the compressor input connection IS. The compressor component is designed to be operated to produce compressed air in the tank I2 for operation of the propelling component, whenever a drop below the required operating pressure is shown by the gauge M.

The propelling component comprises a suitable outboard motor clamp bracket l6, here shown as U -shaped to embrace upper part'of the boat stern 9, and having a rearwardly extending arm [1, containing a thrust roller bearing [8, turnably mounting the tubular shaft l9, which is bent above the arm I? at 26 into a forward extension 2!, terminating at its forward end in a downturned portion 22, which has a union 23 connecting with the upper end of a slack flexible airhose 24, which in turn is connected by a union 25 to the top of the tank l2 to receive compressed ail therefrom.

A steering handle 26 extending forwardly from the tubular forward extension 2| is provided for swinging the propelling component from side to side in the bearing 18 for steering the boat. Within convenient reach of the steering handle 26 is the normally forwardlyextending, but laterally movable handle 27 of the air control valve 28 provided for controlling the passage of compressed air from the tank I2 through the tubular shaft so as to control the speed of operation of the propelling component, and hence the speed of the boat 6. I

The air control or speed control valve 28 is incorporated in the tubular extension 2| and may consistof a casing 29 having an inverted conical chamber 30 in which turns an inverted frustroconical hollow core 3! turnable by the handle 21, the coreb'eing provided with circumferentially spaced ports32, 33 and 34, for example, of progressively greater length, and so spaced that the core can be turned so that none of them, or any one or two or all of them are closed by the sides of the chamber 30 or exposed thereby, so that the valve may be either shut off or opened in gradients for lowest speed operation or full speed operation of the propelling component.

The propelling component further comprises the streamlined air turbine housing 35 secured to the lower end of the tubular shaft [9, with the latter opening into the rotor chamber 36 to jet air against the turbine wheel or rotor 31 therein, which includes the rearwardly extending shaft 38, journalled in the housing 35, and having secured on its rear end the safety type screw propeller 39.

A crescent shape rudder 4!] depends from the housing 35 and above the housing the tubular shaft l9 supports a streamlined water foil 4 i.

The turbine chamber 35 has connected thereto an air exhaust pipe 42 which rises around the water foil 4| and up along the tubular shaft l9, around which it is turned, to terminate in a downwardly and rearwardly directed tail pipe 43 above the foil 4|.

It will appear from the foregoing that the propelling component may be operated like a modern gasoline or electric outboard motor, and may be detached from the boat and carried away for storage or other purposes, simply by loosening the clamp I6 and the connection with the flexible air hose 24, leaving in the boat only the compressor component and the tank Hi.

What is claimed is:

1. An outboard motor for mounting on the stern of a boat, comprising a clamp bracket adapted to be secured on the boat stern and having a vertical axis bearing, arranged to, extend rearwardly beyond the stern, a rigid vertical tube having an upper portion thereof supportably journalled in said bearing, a turbine housing fixed on the lower end of said tube, said housing comprising a turbine chamber, a turbine rotor therein having a shaft extending rearwardly from said housing and equipped with a propeller, the said lower end of said tube communicating with the interior of said chamber in jetting re-llation to said turbine rotor whereby fluid mov: ing downwardly through said tube and impinging upon said turbine rotor turns said rotor and drives said propeller, said upper part oi said tube terminating above said bearing in a horizontal tubular extension projecting forwardly and serving as a tiller and as a conduit for conveying fluid under pressure to said vertical tube from a source on the boat.

2. An outboard motor for mounting on the stern of a boat, comprising a clamp bracket adapted to be secured on the boat stern and having a vertical axis bearing, arranged to 8X? tend rearwarclly beyond the stern, a rigid vertical tube having an upper portion thereof sup-\- portably journalled in said bearing, a turbine housing fixed on the lower end oi said tube, said housing comprising a turbine chamber, a turbine rotor therein having a shaft extending rearwardly from said housing and equipped with a propeller, the said lower endof said tube communicating with the interior of said chamber jetting relation to said turbine rotor whereby fluid moving downwardly through said tube impinging upon said turbine rotor turns. said rotor and drives said propeller, said upper part of said tube terminating above said bearing in a horizontal tubular extension projecting forwardly and serving as a tiller and as a conduit for con veying fluid under pressure to said vertical tube from a source on the boat, a fluid exhaust conduit leading from said chamber providing for escape of fluid under pressure from said chamber after impingement upon said turbine rotor, said exhaust conduit having a discharge end directed rearwardly so as to aid propulsion of the boat during operation of said propeller.

3. An outboard motor for mounting on the stem of a boat, comprising a clamp bracket adapted to be secured on the boat stern and having a vertical axis bearing, arranged to extend rearwardly beyond the stern, a rigid vertical tube having an upper portion thereof supportably journalled in said bearing, a turbine housing neede -the lower end of said tube, said housing comprising a turbine chamber, a turbine rotor therein having a shaft extending rearwardly from said housing and equipped with a propeller, the said lower end of said tube commoun ing with the in erior aid c amb i s tin r i o s i urbine o or hereb fl d movine'downwa r r u h s d tube and impinging upon said turbine rotor turns said otor an d ve said p pe ler sa d. u per par of said tube terminating above said bearing in a horizontal tubular extension projecting forwardly and serving as a tiller and as, a conduit for conveying fluid under pressure to, said verical tu from so rc o the een said bine housing having a depending water foil positioned in the vertical plane of said propeller shaft soas to serve as a rudder for holding the boat on a straight forward course with said tiller in a str i ht, forward o i ion. or f r s ee g the beat wh n aid. t e s swung to ither side n con un o w th said. p ope le Wh l in peration.

HERMAN P. BELQ REFERENCES orren The following references are oi record in the file of this patent:

i 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number i 

